A poignant reflection not just on what leaves a mark, but on what binds us back together.
Turning fifty naturally invites reflection, a time to measure our choices and question whether the life we’ve built is truly the one we intended. When vivacious Franny reaches that milestone birthday, however, nothing suggests to her family that she’s dissatisfied. Daughter Kay adores her mom, but is consumed with her archaeology field studies and accompanying paperwork. Plus, Kay’s school is a few hours from home, which is another reason she isn’t often present. Her older brother, Cal, is just as absent, lost in the grip of addiction. Husband Walter cares for the family in the best way he knows how, but if his devotion were measured in bruises and cold stares, Cal would bear the greatest proof. Without warning, while running an ordinary errand, Franny guides her car onto the highway instead of into the grocery store parking lot and disappears from her own life. Kay is frantic, Cal is livid, and Walter is as stoic as usual. Though she doesn’t tell her family what is wrong, why she left, where she went, when she’ll be home, or who is to blame, neither does Franny abandon them entirely. She leaves voice messages for her daughter, sends photographs to her son, and allows Walter to keep an eye on her through credit card purchases. The days blur into months, forcing the family to figure out how to move forward when the central figure in their lives has gone missing.
If this novel were compared to an art form, it would be Kintsugi, the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold, embracing imperfections as part of the piece’s beauty. This philosophy of resilience mirrors the painstaking healing of Franny’s flawed yet deeply relatable family in When Things Go Missing. Deborah J. Brasket’s eloquent, intimate prose draws readers into an introspective journey where a fluid narrative voice moves effortlessly between a son hardened by addiction, a father weighed down by regret, and a daughter fueled by anger. By withholding Franny’s direct perspective and allowing others’ memories to shape her, the story shifts attention from a single devastating choice to the deliberate choices of those she left behind. Through compelling insights on addiction, homelessness, and creative ventures of the soul, readers become fully invested in the well-being of these realistically crafted characters, rooting for each to find the happiness, success, and fulfillment that have long eluded them. Part mystery, part engrossing family drama, When Things Go Missing is a poignant reflection not just on what leaves a mark, but on what binds us back together.
